NFC Times Exclusive Analysis: France-based Gemalto has set an ambitious goal of doubling its operating profits by 2017, and the ramping up of trusted service management business is key to hitting that objective.
Gemalto’s CEO, Olivier Piou, is seeking to transform the vendor into a top network security and services company. He is making progress, though Gemalto still relies on smart cards and related products for more than 80% of its revenue.
Piou, in a recent presentation for Gemalto’s new multiyear blueprint, acknowledged that the vendor’s TSM business, at present, makes up a small share of revenue. But Piou and company are betting that big TSM contracts the company has with such major mobile operators as the Isis telcos, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia and telcos in Japan; will make up a substantial share or revenue in the next three and a half years as the telcos’ NFC services roll out.
That is in addition to TSM services Gemalto supplies to banks and other service providers and to the vendor’s high-profile mobile-payment contract with the MCX merchant group in the U.S., which plans to launch QR code-based payment.
Piou has to convince financial analysts and investors that the company’s shares are not overpriced, even after the recent drop, while not revealing specifics about contracts. But with mobile payment remaining stubbornly in the experimental stage for now in most developed markets, there is some skepticism.
“Isis has decided to go nationwide,” said Piou. “I know there were doubts of what would be their plans. We’ve not taken an overly aggressive blue-sky plan. There are a sufficient number of those projects. Several will be operational and sizable by 2017.”
In this article:
Words: 3,500
Graphics: Fact box
Among Topics Covered:
•Gemalto’s multiyear plan
•View on embedded secure elements and TEE
•MCX and Isis contracts
•Purported TSM market reach
•Hosted versus licensed model for TSM platforms
•“Multitenant” SIMs
Sources quoted:
Olivier Piou, CEO, Gemalto
Philippe Vallée, EVP, telecoms business unit
Paul Beverly, president, North America
Among companies mentioned:
Gemalto
Isis
MCX
Samsung Electronics
Trustonic
Arm Holdings
Vodafone
Deutsche Telekom
This is premium content from NFC Times